Saturday, April 8, 2017

Mark McNeill, Denis Gurianov Get a Chance in Dallas Stars' Season Finale

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

Needing two forwards for their final game, Dallas has recalled Denis Gurianov and Mark McNeill for Saturday's finale. McNeill has played one NHL game in his career with Chicago. This is his first call up with Dallas after being acquired via trade at the deadline.

Gurianov is an interesting call up. Being a first-round pick, he was certainly going to get ample chances to play in the NHL sooner rather than later, but I'm not sure anyone anticipated it being this season. However, he has done well in North America, and this is a decent reward for that work. As long as he continues working at the steady pace he set in the AHL this season when next season comes around, he'll be back in Dallas soon enough.

Here's the release:

Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has recalled forwards Mark McNeill and Denis Gurianov from the Texas Stars, Dallas' top development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

McNeill, 24, has registered 37 points (9-28=37) in 76 total AHL games in 2016-17. The forward began the season with Rockford where he posted 28 points (6-22=28) in 58 contests. He has also recorded nine points (3-6=9) in 18 games with Texas.

The 6-foot-2, 212-pound native of Edmonton, Alta. was originally selected by Chicago in the first round (18th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft and was acquired by Dallas via trade on Feb. 28, 2017 in exchange for defenseman Johnny Oduya.

Gurianov, 20, has earned 25 points (10-15=25) in 54 games with Texas in his first season of North American hockey. His 25 points lead all Stars rookies this season, while he also paces team rookies and ranks seventh among all Stars skaters with 10 goals in 2016-17.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound native of Togliatti, Russia was originally selected by Dallas in the first round (12th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft.

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